Robert Mugabe’s gone: Epitaph for a revolutionary who gave in to the IMF

If the following reads like an epitaph, this indeed is what it is. The end of Mugabe’s political life at the age of 93 is like the end of his life.

Mugabe has been the lead story almost globally – even in the Western media – for the whole of the past two weeks. How so? There are two reasons for this. The most superficial reason is that at the age of 93 he is the oldest ruler on earth. His 37-year rule spans two generations.

Zimbabweans who were little children when he came to power in 1980 are now in their early to mid-40s while those born under his rule are in their late 30s. Hence the formation of a group called Generation 40, better known as G40.

The second reason is that he will be remembered as the leader of a guerrilla movement that finally ended the rule of the white man in what was then Rhodesia (named after the arch-imperialist, Cecil Rhodes).

He is an emblematic, historical figure. He is a giant, whose boot steps inaugurated a revolutionary era in the early years – boots that, sadly, became too heavy for him, and too painful for the ordinary people for whose liberation he had fought.

There are those who may be tempted to drag Mugabe down to an ignominious end. And I must confess that if I were one of the millions who have suffered pangs of poverty, deprivation, and neglect, I too might, perhaps, be tempted to take the same view.

So I do not stand in judgment on people whose living life has been as if they were dead, as if their lives did not matter, people who are now dancing in the streets of Zimbabwe’s urban centres at the end of this dictatorship.

Fathers of the nation

My shared empathy with people who have suffered does not distract me from presenting another perspective.

I remember Mugabe from the time he came to Dar es Salaam in mid-1970s. I had gone with the late Comrade Nathan Shamuyarira to meet him and other militants of Zanu.

During those years, I had an opportunity also to meet with Comrade Joshua Nkomo, leader of Zapu, another revolutionary leader. I will not go into the feud between Zanu and Zapu, which later reconciled and joined forces.

Zimbabwe was my second home where my wife and I stayed longest (for 23 years) after going into exile from my home, Uganda. I did not take up Zimbabwean nationality, but I am a Zimbabwean. So I am qualified to say that in my eyes, both Nkomo and Mugabe qualify as the “fathers of the nation.”

Mugabe will be remembered for the good he did for the nation. He refused to compromise with imperialism; at Independence, he was generous enough to open his arms even to those with whom he had been fighting in the bush for 20 years.

Along with his party, he transformed the lives of the ordinary people by bringing education, health, water, sanitation and housing to millions of rural people. I was witness to all of this. Instead of joining the University of Zimbabwe (which is what Shamuyarira expected, I (with my wife and the late Ludwig Chizarura) worked in the rural areas for over two decades.

I witnessed the move for land reform starting in 1998. I was hired as consultant by the United Nations Development Programme to help design a planned, systematic and efficient five-year programme of land reform.

I attended a meeting of donors, where countries such as Sweden, Norway and Germany were willing to put in money for compensation and development, but it came to nothing. It was aborted by the British government, which refused to be part of it, and so the others also withdrew.

Following this, the War Veterans Association organised marches in Harare, more or less forcing Mugabe to fast-track land reform. Land reform has its critics – especially in imperial Britain – but its account by the late Sam Moyo is the most objective analysis. Land was one of the reasons for the guerrilla war – an objective that the South African government has not been able to fulfil (yet) – more than 20 years down the road.

The land reform was the last revolutionary change in Zimbabwe. Already, as Mugabe was presiding over the land reform, his finance minister, the late Bernard Chidzero, was negotiating with the International Monetary Fund for a loan to bail the country out of a debt situation created largely by a massive importation of machinery (including farm implements) to revolutionise the economy.

The empire

Mugabe was never a good economist (I know this because I had several opportunities to discuss economics with him). So, against the better judgement of people like Shamuyarira and Ibbo Mandaza, Mugabe fell in line with Chidzero.

The government signed an agreement with the IMF in 1989, which ushered in the era of the structural adjustment programmes. This was “regime change” – yes, a change in regime now led by the empire with Mugabe as its head of state!

There was some opposition in the Cabinet. Fay Chung resigned her post as minister of education. The other person who wanted to resign was Shamuyarira. We talked about it. I suggested that he too should resign. He said he was under pressure from Mugabe to stay.

He did, but Nathan confided in me that he had told Mugabe that the time had come for those who had fought for the Chimurenga to make space for a new generation of leadership. Shamuyarira died in June 2014, penniless and neglected by Mugabe and his own party.

After a last-minute attempt to retain his position as chairman of Zanu-PF, Mugabe yielded to pressure and saw wisdom in throwing away his baton November 21, resigning as president. Sadly, he may still not recognise that he has been on the wrong side of history for at least the past two decades.

I agree with SADC Council of NGOs statement of solidarity with the people of Zimbabwe – released on 15 November – on how Zimbabwe has been “auctioned at the altar of counter-revolutionaries.” Mugabe’s resignation opens the potential for returning to the revolutionary days.

I say “potential” guardedly … for the pro-SAP, pro-IMF, pro-austerity regime is still in power, and likely to remain in power… unless challenged. The people power is on the streets, but not in the corridors of power.

There should be not a single person in Zimbabwe who has to go without food, clothes, shoes, water, free education until secondary school, housing, employment… and yes, freedom of speech and movement… and dignity. These are going to be difficult days!

Mugabe is a stubborn old man, a hero to young people in South Africa wishing that their country had emulated his programme of land reform, earning him the wrath of the West. So give the old man the dignity that the “father of the nation” deserves.

Yashpal Tandon is a Ugandan policymaker, political activist, professor, author and public intellectual.